It is known to provide award distribution systems which users can access across network connections, which are typically Internet based, and have awards paid out therefrom dependent upon the users performance. Often such award distribution systems are referred to as community systems.
Traditional non-network award terminals provide complex schemes to determine whether or not an award should be made to a user. As a starting point, a skilled person would assume that to provide a networked game would simply require re-creating the functionality of a non-networked award terminal across a network. However, to support the functionality of such a non-networked award terminal would impart a severe burden on the network requiring significant communication between a networked terminal and a server(s) monitoring and/or controlling awards being distributed by the networked system. As such, significant technical issues are placed upon the networked infrastructure.
Moreover, such community award distribution systems may be played by many players and could be played by 10's, 100's, 1000's, 10,000's, 100,000's or even more players. Accordingly, as the number of users of the award system increases then mechanisms need to be employed to ensure that users of the system cannot trigger distribution of an award too frequently.